Improvement in railroad-rails



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. W. SHIVELEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-RAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,279, dated July 10,1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. W. SHIVELEY, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Joint for Railroad-Rails 5and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings,forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspectiveview of ends of two rails slightly separated, constructed so as to besecured together by my invention; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the samejoined together; Fig. 3, a top-plan view thereof; Fig. 4, a plan bottomview thereof. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the double cheek-bar; Fig.6, a perspective view of therails, cheek-bar, and chair united; Fig. 7,a cross-sectional elevation of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention has for its object the constructing ot' a joint forrailroad-rails in such a manner that the rails will be rmly connectedtogether so that they cannot yield or give in either a lateral orvertical direction, and the hammering of the ends of the rails by thecarwheels totally prevented, and the rails rendered equally as iine andsolid as if they were constructed of a continuous bar of metal.

A represents what may be termed a chair,77 constructed of either wroughtor cast metal, and provided at each side with a lip or iiange, d, theinner surfaces of which are slightly inclined from a vertical plane, sothat the space between the Lipper edges of the flanges will be rathernarrower than the space between their lower edges. (See Figs. 6 and 7.)The chair A is bolted to the tie by means of bolts l or spikes passingthrough suitable holes in the chair.

B B represent the adjoining or abutting ends of two rails. The ends ofthese rails are cut in a peculiar manner, as shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, 4,5, and 6, the cuts forming a zigzag joint composed of four angulartongues, a a a a, and four angular corresponding recesses, b b b D, oneach rail, as shown. The tongues and recesses fit together, as shown,forming a joint which cffectually prevents any lateral displacement ormovement of the rails, being a perfeet lock, preventing one rail fromVmoving laterally without the other. `rlhe end of each rail is alsoslotted longitudinally in a horizontal direction, so that a rectangularspace or opening, c, will be made in each rail, said spaces or openingsc being in line or coinciding with each other when the ends of the railsare fitted or adjusted together. (See Fig. 2.)

C represents what may be termed a double cheek-piece, made of the formshown, composed of side cheeks and central bar, f, arranged to t snuglybetween the outer snraces of the necks of the rails and the inner sidesof the lips or iianges Z of the chair A. Consequently the outer sides ofthe cheekpiece are planes slightly inclined from vertical planes, andthe inner surfaces are curved corresponding to the curvature of theexterior surfaces of the necks ofthe rails, as shown in Fig. 5.

The cheek-pieces are connected by a central longitudinal bar or rib,f,of rectangular form, corresponding to the spaces or openings c in theends of the rails, which are designed to receive the bar or rib f. Thisbar or rib and cheek-pieces may be formed or cast in one piece or in twoor more pieces, bolted together at L L, so that any joint and rail maybe taken up and replaced when desired. The cheekpieces clamp or hold therails iirmly in the chair and effectnally prevent any verticaldisplacement or movement of the same, the outer inclined sides of thecheek-pieces, in connection with the inner inclined surfaces of the lipsor projections d, holding the cheekpieces or preventing them 'frommoving vertically, while the curved inner surfaces ot' the cheek-pieces,tting snugly against the necks of the rails, in connection with the baror rib f, fitting in the spaces or opening e in the' same, effectnallyprevent the rails from rising between the cheek-pieces.

The cheek-pieces are prevented from movling longitudinally in the chairby means of bolts and spikes, which are driven down through recesses ornotches h h h2, made respectively in the outer sides of the cheekpieces,the inner sides of the lips or projections d of the chair, outer sidesof the bases of the rails, and through the bottom of the chair into thetie. Thus it will be seen that the ends of the rails are Very firmlyconnected together, all Vertical and lateral movement of the saine beingprevented, and the ends of the rails consequently preserved from thehammering of the Wheels-a result due to a square joint and contractingof the rails and the rising and falling of the ends of the rails as theWheels pass over them. The rails are also allowed to expand and contractunder diilerent degrees of temperature of Weather Without admitting ofthe `joint of the rails being opened, a close or tight joint beingpreserved at all times by the bolts or spikes in the recess-notches h h,which compress and bind the two long` points a a of the rails morermly-together as the joint and rails are drawn apart.

To preserve the points a a of the rails they may be made of steel orconverted into steel or hardened wrought-iron by any process now knownfor converting wrought-iron into steel.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Pat ent- 1. Providing the rail ends With angular tongues a act a and angular recesses I) b b b, when fitted and operating togetheras herein shown and described.

2. The combination, with the above-mentioned tongues and recesses, ofthe doublecheek and look bar C, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

3. The combination of the said tongues, recesses, and cheek-bar with thechair A, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. The recesses h h h2, in combination with the rails, the cheek-pieces,aud the chair, substantially as and for the purpose herein shown anddescribed.

J. W. SHIVELEY.

lVitnesses: l

WM. F. MGNAMARA, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

